‘The Carp and the Seagull’ is an interactive short film about one man’s encounter with the spirit world and his fall from grace. It is a user driven narrative that tells a single story through the prism of two connected spaces. One space is the natural world and the other is the spirit or nether world.

The film's protagonist is Masato, a simple fisherman, spending his days fishing the waters near his village eking out a quiet, structured life. The Carp and the Seagull focuses on his encounter with the Yuki-onna ghost.

The word ‘Yuki’ is Japanese for snow and a Yuki-onna is a snow woman that strikes fear in mortals with her deathly eyes and pale skin. She is associated with snow storms and blizzards and inhabits both life and the after-life.

The story is told in a stripped down polygonal style that reflects the emotional, spiritual states of the characters. High density, smooth polygon vertices indicate oneness with the world while distorted, non-uniform shapes show unease within the characters.

Directed by Evan Boehm at Nexus Interactive Arts, the film is an experiment in space and narrative using the latest in web technology. The film brings together 3D character modeling, rigging and animation with HTML5 and WebGL THREE.js techniques. The film is optimised for viewing on Chrome.

The film's original score and sound design by Plaid lead the user through the interactive journey.